An environmental impact assessment panel under the Cabinet-level EPA gave the green light on condition that Taipower promises not to make the repository a final disposal site, and that the company should "try to purchase" residents' properties near the designated waste storage dump.

In addition, the residents may set up a supervisory commission to monitor the construction of the repository, according to the panel.

Unsatisfied with the panel's decision, however, more than 700 residents who gathered outside the EPA office said they will stage large-scale protests against Taipower.

The No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, located in the county's Shihmen Township, has been operational since 1978 to provide electricity to people in the Greater Taipei area. It is expected to be decommissioned in 2018.

According to the panel's decision, spent nuclear fuel rods can be stored in the planned repository for a maximum 40 years. Taipower will have to relocate the waste to a final disposal site at the end of that period.

As the current waste dump can only store spent fuel from nuclear reactors for 30 years, Taipower must present a construction plan to the EPA for an additional 0.45-hectare spent fuel rod repository.

Taipower representatives claimed that if the plan is further postponed, Taiwan's electricity supply might be affected in the near future, as the spent fuel rod repository will be full by March 2010.

However, local residents questioned Taipower's intention to build in their hometown a repository that will have a lifespan of 50 years.

"If the nuclear power plant will be retired in 10 years, why not find a permanent disposal site right away? " asked Shihmen Township chief Liang Yu-hsueh, claiming that Taipower might be intending to use the repository as a final dumping site.

According to the Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Waste Management Act, Taipower should have the final disposal facility for its nuclear waste built and in operation by 2055.

But the company has not yet found an appropriate location.

The protesting residents from four neighboring townships claimed their health is being threatened by radioactivity and that cancer is more prevalent in their area than in other parts of the country.

Officials at the Taipei County Government also voiced opposition to the dumpsite plan, saying the beautiful coastal areas should not be turned into a final destination for nuclear waste.

In response, the Taipower executives argued that a rising cancer rate is a nationwide phenomenon, and that cancer rates in townships near the nuclear plant are no higher than elsewhere.

"The barrels of the type used to store the spent nuclear fuel rods have been used in the United States for over 20 years, and their stability and strength are proven," according to Tu Yueh-yuan, chief engineer and Taipower spokesman.

Experts at the Cabinet's Atomic Energy Council already gave the green light to the project earlier from the viewpoints of technology and safety. Panelists on the EPA's environmental impact appraisal committee said they gave conditional approval based on the opinions of AEC experts. Taiwan has three nuclear power plants in operation, with a fourth under construction.

President Ma Ying-jeou has expressed his support for nuclear energy development in order to reduce Taiwan's carbon dioxide emissions while meeting the increasing demand for electricity, as the import costs of crude oil and coal continue to soar.

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